Beavis And Butthead Do America (DVD)

.../> I have been watching Beavis and Butthead on TV for years. For those who have never heard of them, Beavis and Butthead are two teenage youths who are possibly the worst students in the history of American schooling. Most of the time, they do not even attend classes and stay at home watching music videos on TV.

When I heard that a film had been released, my thought was that they had made a cheap film by taking the popular parts of ...
...moderate references to sex by Beavis and Butthead. Being a cartoon, it has the standard violence and swearing that you won’t see on the Disney Channel. The language is nowhere near the low level of South Park the movie though.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

SPOILER

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


The film begins with a 100-foot tall Butthead wandering ... more

WARNING… Only watch this film if you share my warped sense of humour. Now that I’ve got the disclaimer out of the way, I’ll get on with the opinion.

I have been watching Beavis and Butthead on TV for years. For those who have never heard of them, Beavis and Butthead are two teenage youths who are possibly the worst students in the history of American schooling. Most of the time, they do not even attend classes and stay at home watching music videos on TV.

When I heard that a film had been released, my thought was that they had made a cheap film by taking the popular parts of the TV show and tacking them into a film with a few music videos mixed in to pad it out. I am pleased to be able to say I was wrong. The makers have put a lot of effort into this film and the only music videos in the film are not just tacked in, they are part of the film. I will tell you more about them later. The theme tune is done by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Other artists include Ozzy Osbourne, No Doubt, AC/DC and LL Cool J

Basically (for those who do not wish to read the whole spoiler), The basic plot revolves around the theft of their TV and their search for a replacement. While searching, they get unwittingly caught up in a terrorist operation to sell a stolen biological weapon to foreign powers. This sets the scene for action and destruction.

I’ve got the video and was thinking of getting the DVD but there were no real extras to warrant the extra money. I will get the DVD when the video wears out though because this is a film that I watch again and again.

I’ll get straight into the spoiler (I’m starting to think I should get a trademark for these, LMAO) If you don’t want to know what happens, just scroll down to my conclusion at the bottom.

The film has a 12 certificate as there are moderate references to sex by Beavis and Butthead. Being a cartoon, it has the standard violence and swearing that you won’t see on the Disney Channel. The language is nowhere near the low level of South Park the movie though.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

SPOILER

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The film begins with a 100-foot tall Butthead wandering through a city, destroying everything in his way. Army helicopters shoot him at but he swats them out of the sky. He picks up a chick (literally) and tries to chat up the hysterical lady. Beavis walks into view and breathes fire onto some tanks. He spots Butthead and fights him for the girl. Beavis gets on top and starts shaking Butthead. This wakes Butthead up. It was just a dream.

It is a huge disaster! While they were asleep, someone has broken in and stolen the TV. This sets the scene for the rest of the film, which follows their progress in their hunt for a new TV.

After a psychedelic intro sequence, Beavis and Butthead set off in search of their TV, After searching all the bins in the neighbourhood, they decide to “Borrow” the school TV. Unfortunately they drop it down the steps and smash it. They get expelled, which is cool.

There is a TV in Mr Anderson’s camper van. They go in by pretending to be the repairmen. When they get in, they sit down to watch some TV. Beavis cracks open a drink and takes a swig. It is warm though and he spits it out. The sray goes all over the TV, busting it. They make their exit.

Night falls and they are still looking for a TV. Butthead spots a Motel that has a TV in every room. They walk along the row of rooms trying all the doors. While Beavis and Butthead (I’ll refer to them as B&B because I’m lazy) were trying the doors, we see a shady man in one of the rooms on the phone, hiring two people to kill his wife. B&B find an open door and walk in, only to find their headmaster getting a spanking from a lady of dubious morals. The headmaster won’t let them stay and watch TV, so they move on.

They go into the shady man’s room and he mistakes them for the two hit men he hired. He tells them that he will pay them $10,000 if they “DO” his wife. Misunderstanding the man, B&B readily agree to do it and they ask if they can watch TV before they leave. He shoots the TV and then they leave for the airport.

The airhostess shows B&B to their seats. They are seated next to an old lady who is going to Las Vegas too. Due to her deafness, she mistakes Beavis’ mention of “Sluts” to mean “Slots”. The complete misunderstanding is the start of a friendship that runs right through the movie. Another airhostess helps Butthead with his belt and he falls instantly in love. Beavis is irate, as the old lady helps him.

As the plane takes off, Butthead undoes his belt to go and chat-up the hostess. He falls headlong to the back of the plane. Beavis continues his conversation with the old lady. When he says he gets tired, the lady gives him a selection of tablets. Butthead is following the hostess, and still trying it on. Beavis turns into Cornholio. He goes into the cockpit to demand TP for his B*mhole. The pilot panics and the plane goes out of control. This makes Butthead fall into the cockpit and they get in big trouble. On arrival at Las Vegas, their chauffeur meets them and they go to their hotel.

The real hit men (the ones who stole the TV) turn up at the shady man’s house and can’t understand why no one is there. Muddy arrives and realises that B&B are not the real hit men and speeds off to kill all three of them.

After partying for a while, B&B meet the woman that they are supposed to “DO”. When she finds that her husband is trying to kill her and that B&B don’t realise it, she calms down a bit. She realises that the police are outside looking for her though, as she has stolen a tube containing biological warfare material. To throw the police, she sews it into Beavis’ shorts and books them on a tour bus that is heading to Washington DC. The police enter as B&B leave.

The old lady is on the bus too. They arrive at the Hoover Dam. While there, B&B get bored and go off on their own. They find a room full of TVs and try playing with the switches. They blow the circuits and half of America loses its electricity. As the police arrive at the dam looking for B&B, B&B get back on the bus. The police now rate B&B as the most wanted fugitives in America. We also hear that the unit is fragile and could blow if treated roughly. Butthead is now kicking Beavis’ butt to get him out of the window seat… Right on the unit. It doesn’t blow though.

The next stop is the Grand Canyon. While everyone admires the view, B&B are watching an ass relieve itself. They think it’s coming out of the ass of the ass. As the police continue the search, B&B continue their journey on the bus.

The next main stop is at Yellowstone Park and the main attraction is a geyser. While the people are watching the water erupt, B&B go and play with the automatic flush mechanisms on the urinals. They spend so much time in the toilets, they miss the bus and it goes off without them. The park warden realises that B&B are wanted and alerts the police that they were on the tour bus. When they come out of the toilets, B&B get on another bus that is filled with nuns and continue their journey. As the police are carrying out cavity searches on the tourists on the right bus, the bus with B&B drives by without a care in the world.

Beavis thinks the bible is cool, as there is a lady with a snake and an apple, then a guy puts a leaf on his shlong. B&B stay on this bus all the way to the next tour point. It is a church but B&B want to use the toilet so they go into cubicles. Actually, they are confession booths and people go in to confess to B&B. After harassing the people in confession, they go to get back on the bus and get struck by lightning for their work.

They go to the petrified wood museum next. As they are looking at the wood, the nuns get back on the bus and leave. When they realise that they have been left behind, B&B ask what way it is to Washington. The man points and says 2000-miles that way. B&B say thanks and start walking straight out into the desert. The police arrive and when the museum warden cannot say where they went, he is given a cavity search as punishment. They set up armed roadblocks but B&B are crossing the desert.

Trekking across the desert, B&B realise that it sucks. Mr Anderson says that he knows them and gets cavity searched for his help. B&B find two men in the desert. There is an uncanny similarity and it looks like they met their dads. When B&B wake in the morning, their dads have gone. There is an interesting party trick involving a flame and bodily gases. The police raid the school and arrest B&B’s hippie teacher.

B&B carry on trekking and the vultures start to circle. They drop to their knees and start crawling. The heat is too much though and the vultures close in. After punching a vulture in the head, Beavis eats a strange cactus type plant but there is no water in it. The shady guy goes through the checkpoint. Beavis starts having a hallucination due to the plant. It is just like a rock video. They both pass out.

B&B are awoken by water being thrown over them. It is the man who asked them to do his wife. He loads them into his boot and drives off towards Washington. They find a jack in the boot and start making jokes about it. The man turns up the stereo to drown out their chatter. Butthead starts jacking, and after a while, it pops the boot open.

B&B look out onto the motorway. They decide that they should jump but Beavis doesn’t want to go first. Butthead kicks him out and he goes out in front of the traffic. A loory jack-knifes to avoid him and loads of cars pile into it, bursting into flames. The car then goes over a bump that jolts Butthead out. He holds on for a moment until the boot slams on his hand and he goes flying into the windscreen of Mr Anderson’s camper van. The man drives on, oblivious to the fact that his hostages have escaped.

The police are trying to work out where B&B are now. The assistant spots them on the TV where a reporter is talking about the car wreck. As the police get there, B&B get on their original bus with the old lady and they drive away again. B&B still think that they are going to score.

I have moved the contents of the next scene around a bit to make it easier to understand. The film actually skips between the two plots. B&B’s tours, and the two criminals.

Finally in Washington, the lady goes to get ready to meet B&B but her hubby is waiting, she tries talking her way out of getting killed. When that fails, she uses her (ahem) feminine charms to her advantage and they make their way to the back seat of the car.

In Washington, B&B are on a tour. They find a tannoy system and make an announcement that they are ready to score with the woman with the big hooters. This makes a large number of diplomats laugh in a big meeting chamber.

The car door is thrown open and the police catch them both. When questioned, the lady blames the shady guy for stealing the unit and the police take him away.

B&B board the tour bus again and they head for The White House. Beavis goes mental because they haven’t found the lady yet. He gets a kicking from the driver for not sitting down. The old lady gives him some tablets to calm him down but accidentally gives him tablets that make him go even more hyper. The police are rushing to get to The White House.

B&B enter The White House. Beavis is almost out of his nut. Mr Anderson also arrives to go on a tour. Beavis eats a bowlful of sugar and drinks a whole pot of coffee. He turns into Cornholio and goes off on his own in The White House. He wanders into the G-Pac meeting and scares everyone.

The police arrive and start evacuating the house. Butthead wanders away from the tour group as well. Beavis goes into the Oval Office. He likes the echo, so he starts shouting. Then he finds the phone to the army. He starts abusing the man at the other end. He thinks America is under attack, so he switches to Defcon 4.

As the evacuation continues, Butthead finds the president’s daughter. After chatting her up, she throws him through the window. As Butthead lands in the bushes, the police surround him and he is taken away for a cavity search. He thinks he scored.

Beavis hangs up and wanders away and Butthead emerges from the police van with a decidedly ruffled look about him. Beavis talks with a group of foreign emissaries. They are evacuated and he is ushered out with them, past the guards. He walks out of the gates and spots Mr Anderson’s camper. He gets the picture of the buxom lady and heads to the camper for some serious whacking.

Mr Anderson is evacuated against his will and emerges form the house to see his camper bucking around of it’s own accord. When he enters the caravan, he spots Beavis and screams. After a scuffle, Beavis is thrown from the caravan and Mr Anderson closes the door to tidy up.

Beavis stands to be surrounded by armed police. The SWAT team jumps out of their vans but they cannot shoot for fear of hitting the unit. When Beavis demands TP (toilet paper) and the police say that they will get him whatever he wants. As Beavis continues to rant and rave, they bring Butthead to talk some sense into Beavis. He just says that this is going to be cool.

Just as the police are about to shoot, Mr Anderson appears with the shorts. A SWAT member grabs at them but the unit goes flying through the air. Everything becomes slow motion and everybody holds their breath. The unit bounces on Buttheads head and lands in his hand. The people back off but he just gives the unit to the policeman. Everyone cheers. The police drag Mr Anderson away for using the two boys to get the unit without their knowledge.

The police have the evidence, as they find Beavis’ photo of the lady in the caravan, so they believe that he was in league with the two criminals. The van door slams and the three are taken away.

B&B are invited to The White House in order to receive a reward for saving America. Bill Clinton gives them their reward. They are appointed honorary agents for the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms.

B&B fly home. They wander towards home. It sucks that they didn’t score, they didn’t get money and they didn’t even find their TV. Just then, Beavis spots their TV in the rubbish near the motel. As they walk into the sunset, Beavis asks if they will ever score. Butthead says he will, but Beavis will never score. They fade into the sunset hurling obscenities at each other. Their final words are to the effect that they need to stop off at Mr Anderson’s tool shed… Boingggg!!!

The End

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

CONCLUSION

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Well there you have it! The whole 1-hour of animated mayhem. Although this is not the longest film ever made, it is just the right length for my taste. By keeping it short, the film is all action from the start. If it were longer, there would probably be dull points that drag where there wasn’t much happening.

I watch this film regularly, as it is always funny. I think it is the mix of innocence, complete naivety and the fact that they enjoy breaking stuff that is so endearing. I mean that when they get into scrapes, they do not know that they are in a scrape, then they break stuff and then they end up getting out of trouble none the wiser.

It is hard to sum up the way I want without giving away the spoiler to those that haven’t read it. I will just say that if you share my somewhat childish sense of humour and enjoy toilet humour, you will love this film. It is not a cartoon that you would want young children to see but it appeared to me that my 10-year-old cousins have learned the language at school already though.

You have the choice of video or DVD. The contents are exactly the same on both and so it is just a matter of choice. I just prefer DVDs because they do not wear out so fast with repeated viewing.

Whichever media you choose to buy, you will be thoroughly entertained. But why only four stars? Simply because the film left me wanting more and it doesn’t have the sophistication of Bottom (grins). 

...less